The present invention relates to pointing devices and to palm or wrist support pads.
A wide variety of wrist or palm support pads have been developed for pointing devices and keyboards. Typically, for a keyboard, an elongated foam pad can be placed in front of the keyboard for wrist support. For a mouse or trackball, a mouse pad can be used, with some mouse pads including a pillow-like wrist support on the front end. Typically, these pads are sold separately from any pointing device, although some keyboard pads can be purchased which attach to the keyboard in a fixed position.
Another approach used in pointing devices is to make the pointing device itself more ergonomic. In particular, a palm support region is often built into the mouse, trackball, etc. One of the challenges of such a design is to shape the palm support region so that it can accommodate different hand sizes and different hand positions.
The present invention provides an apparatus which consists of a pointing device and a pad for supporting a portion of the hand. A connector is provided for connecting the pad to the pointing device such that the pad can be oriented at different angles to the pointing device.
In one embodiment, the pointing device is a trackball. The connector in one embodiment can be a curved slot on the bottom of the trackball or pointing device, or alternately on the pad. This matches with a protrusion extending upward from the pad, or downward from the trackball. Thus, the user can adjust the pad to accommodate the desired position for that particular user.
In addition, in a preferred embodiment, the pointing device has a ledge which extends over a portion of the pad. Thus, the design is similar to a pointing device with a palm support on the pointing device itself, except that here the palm support portion is adjustable and removable. The device can be thought of as similar to separating portions of the housing of a trackball with the palm rest portion being made adjustable with respect to the rest of the trackball.
In a preferred embodiment, the palm rest is of a soft, pliable material, as opposed to the harder plastic material of the pointing device.
For a further understanding of the nature and advantages of the invention, reference should be made to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.